Bonjour from Paris!

Nous avons été à Paris pendant une semaine maintenant et se sentir comme nous ne faisons que remettre du décalage horaire! La ville est magnifique et le temps est frais. Nous pouvons voir la Tour Eiffel à partir de notre appartement et la nuit elle brille!

So I said, we have been in Paris for one week now and feel like we are just getting over jet lag! The city is beautiful and the weather is cool. We can see the Eiffel Tower from our apartment and at night it sparkles!

Transitioning here has had its ups and downs. I don’t think we were anticipating the effect that jet lag would have on us both physically and emotionally. Asher took his first nap just yesterday. Six days with no nap is a record. Luckily, he was still super happy and flexible, thank goodness. I probably would’ve had a mental breakdown had he been difficult.

To give you an idea of where we are; we are temporarily staying in a one bedroom apartment in the twelfth arrondissement. (not that that means much to anyone, it barely means anything to me) We have two ceiling to floor windows in our living room giving us a view of the city and great air flow and light. Probably my favorite thing about Parisian apartments is the amount of natural light that comes through. We have a small little kitchen, living room and bathroom. We are on the 9th floor and thankfully the building has an elevator.

We’ve been walking quite a bit around our neighborhood which is what we are told most Parisians do. They kind of live out of their neighborhood and do life where they live. On Saturday we went to a huge open air market and bought some fruit and veggies and some Brie of course 😉 We’ve had teammates over for dinner and sat on our balcony and watched le tour eiffel sparkle!

Parts of this week have been so much more challenging than I ever thought possible, however, it’s getting easier as each day passes. The Lord has been really sweet to give Scott and I a deep love and patience for each other. I’ve seen him take steps of faith this week, lead our family well with patience and kindness and great sensitivity. I’ve seen him care for me in ways that I’ve never seen before (mostly because he’s never had to) and it’s been a gift to me.

honestly, i am pretty weary and tired. i am anxious and scared at times. i’m restless and haven’t slept well and i often have a headache (probably from all of the thinking and translating!) if you could pray for us we would really appreciate it. could you pray that we would all sleep well? pray that Asher doesn’t fight his naps and that he sleeps through the night. Also, pray for our apartment search. We would like to move into a permanent apartment as soon as possible but the process of finding and renting one can be challenging but we want to trust the Lord with this!

Thanks for walking through this journey with us. Can’t wait to share more!     

 

 

one more.

on the eve of leaving i am overwhelmed with how loved and cared for we are by our family. even though it’s hard to leave and sad that we won’t see them for a while, it’s so nice to know and especially feel just how missed we will be and just how loved we are.

today has been emotional as we have said goodbye to almost everyone. tomorrow i say goodbye to my parents which i know is going to be difficult but i am thankful for how close and near the Lord has felt as i’ve hugged family bye.

it’s kind of like ripping off a band-aid. tomorrow we rip it all the way off!

to paris!

au-reviour!

Abraham, Isaac and five days until takeoff.

if you want to know how packing for a year is going, well it’s tough! how does one limit their clothes, toiletries, PURSES and SHOES? let me tell you, it’s not an easy task. i want to take everything, but alas, we cannot drag 10 suitcases through the airport, nor will our small apartment house all of our stuff. i keep telling myself that when we get back, all of the clothes that i left here will feel new!

we’ve been packing slowly for the past few days and that has definitely helped us keep track of what we still need so that we aren’t scrambling at the last minute to gather odds and ends that are easier to forget.

on tuesday me and two other girls on my team took a day with the lord. it was so good for me to sit quietly alone and read scripture, journal, pray through truths and worship! i started out my time by asking the Lord what he wanted to teach me. often times i go to his word and just read without really asking if he wants to show me anything specific. immediately the story of Abraham and Isaac came to my mind. I went to Genesis and started reading and taking notes through each verse. even though i’ve read that story so many times, it felt new and fresh to me. the main thing i’ve struggled with in going to Paris is leaving family. i love my family and i love being with them. it’s a sacrifice to leave them. as i was reading through this story of abraham and isaac i couldn’t help but feel amazed by Abrahams complete trust in the Lord. God commanded him to sacrifice “his only son, the one whom he loved.” Not once in the passage did Abraham object. He didn’t even ask why. I read these words and instantly related it back to the struggle in my own heart of leaving family. God is telling us to go. My why’s and how’s are heard and important to him, but i don’t need to know the answers in order to obey. i am to obey, and that’s it. it doesn’t negate my worries or fears, but instead, i should be focusing on him. Abraham never tarried. He could’ve easily created distractions, told Isaac to go and hide, or even outright disobey. He walked up the mountain, created an altar just as the Lord said, and bound Isaac up. He raised the knife to kill him and an angel stopped him. In turn, because Abraham obeyed and the Lord saw his faithfulness, God blessed the nations through his obedience. Amazing!

The Lord is really good to gently bring us into submission. He knows what’s best for us and loves us so much. i know that leaving family is going to be really hard but I also am looking forward to reaping the benefits of obedience. if you’re wrestling with surrender, read this passage! it was so encouraging to me.

5 days left!

 

seven days.

we are down to the final countdown! we leave for Paris a week from tomorrow. i seriously cannot believe it. sometimes when i think about it, i hyperventilate a little bit! it’s just such a huge change and one that i don’t think i can fully prepare for.

BUT, as of last night, we have raised 100% of our support! writing, saying, thinking that phrase is incredibly humbling, freeing and exciting. we’ve been full time raising financial support since January of this year, and to know that the Lord provided every single dollar that we needed is so amazing! we are so thankful. so in awe that he answered every prayer, fulfilled each promise, and remained faithful even when we were faithless at times. he is so good, friends! he’s a kind, caring and generous God who desires to lavish his gifts on us.

our journey to Paris thus far has been so good for my walk with the Lord. it has rekindled this belief in his word, in his truth, in his faithfulness to us, to everyone. knowing that he invited us to do something, gave us an opportunity, and fully led us into it by providing not only financially but with an incredible team, friends who we love and care deeply for, a family that supports us, and even supplied an apartment in Paris for us to stay in temporarily while we find our permanent one! so many unknowns are being made known in the best and most timely ways and no one but Jesus could do this for us.

friends, as we prepare to leave, would you take time to pray for us? pray that we’d have a smooth transition! pray that Asher would fly well on the transatlantic flight, especially. that he would SLEEP! pray that the Lord would be very near to me as I say goodbye to my family (something that leaves a pit in my stomach when i think about it), for all of the details of luggage, getting transportation, getting to our temp housing, etc. Pray for Scott as he leads Asher and I overseas. Pray that he would trust in the Lord and not his own strength. Pray that we would be slow to anger and slow to speak. that we’d be patient and kind toward one another as we travel (little sleep + potential travel hiccups = frustration!)

we know that God has brought us this far and he’s already working ahead of us! we have full confidence that he will give us a smooth travel day(s)!

we can’t wait to bring you along with us as we trust the Lord and join him in what he’s doing in Paris!

running to our reward.

one of the perks of living at my parents house these last couple of months has been being so close to the beach. many mornings scott and i have put asher in the jogging stroller and ran straight up my parents street right to the sand. it’s really a great stopping point (to catch my breath) and to let asher out to walk and play. this morning i was jogging and kept debating on stopping but i’m so glad we did. yesterday we had a huge storm so the ocean was pretty calm and the sun was peaking through the clouds in light shades of pink. it was breezy and dare i say cooler. it was our reward for running.

 

 

 

gifts along the way.

one of the most incredible parts of this journey to Paris has been seeing little gifts the Lord has given me along the way. little things that let me know we are going in the right direction. things that remind me he’s answering my prayers. he’s acknowledging and empathizing with my fears.

for instance, driving around in colorado we somehow got lost behind a bunch of warehouses trying to get on the interstate and low and behold a HUGE eiffel tower is sitting on the side of the road. i mean HUGE. in colorado! behind a warehouse! the lord is so good.

i’ve met so many people who’ve just recently left Paris for vacation or business and are just so encouraging. giving us little helpful hints and telling us places we need to see. those are gifts to me.

i see Paris and eiffel tower things almost once a day. small reminders that where i’m going, he’s there already. 

someone on our support team gave us all the sky miles we needed to pay for our round trip tickets to Paris. He’s called us and he’s making a way for us to get there. makes me wonder what this year is going to hold for us. his glory is going to be known. 

he is so faithful when i am so faithless. he gives us good gifts even when we don’t deserve them. he takes what’s broken and mends it. he redeems what is ugly and messy. he is worth everything. 

 

praying my fears.

there are a few things that really scare me and some of these have only formed over the last few years and then some i’ve had since i can remember. i’m not a thrill seeker, i don’t really like reptiles or large animals (whales, sharks, even dolphins,) i don’t like being scared (like scary movies, or halloween jump-out-of-a-bush scary,) and i do NOT like to fly. these are just a few. i guess i would consider myself reserved or conservative. sometimes i envy friends who love adventure and love to take risks. but then i think, well the world needs some of my type too. we can’t all be skydivers or bungee jumpers. i say all of this because the process of going to Paris in less than two months now has been scary for me. 

i have had to and still do need to relinquish control. i am jumping into this huge deep unknown puddle of culture and change. there are so many question marks and so many what ifs and should we go’s. so many times i’ve wanted to say “nevermind, i’m too scared and i can’t do this.” i can’t even say that that sentence won’t come to my mind today, tomorrow or next week. each day is a battle to stay engaged with the Lord and what he has called Scott and I to do next. 

We recently listened to a talk by Tim Keller and he said something really profound. He said this,  “God will only give you what you would have asked for if you knew everything he knows.” 

When he said that my mind just kind of jolted. He would give us everything we ask for if we just knew all that he knows. He knows it all. He knows everything we need and could ever need for every day that I am here on this earth. If I don’t believe that, if I don’t really truly believe that, then I’m missing something fundamental. I’m wallowing in complete fear, I’m trusting in myself and my “better plan” and I’m telling God, you have no clue what you are doing. 

to walk with the Lord is to live a radically different life. it’s to be uncomfortable, to be completely dependent on him, to see him as my ultimate source of life and all things I need, and it’s to love him above any earthly thing. 

do i do this? no. i definitely don’t do this daily. a huge reason why we are going to Paris is to do this better. it’s to live outside of our box of convenience and comfortability. to take what we “know” and set it aside for a time and be learners. to immerse ourselves in communities of people who desperately need to know Jesus and to see Jesus. Keller says it’s not enough to hear the words “he loves you” they need to be shown that he loves them. they need to be shown. 

inwardly, i am wrestling with the Lord and wanting to obey so badly but also being really afraid. is he trustworthy? yes. is he forever faithful and good? yes, always. 

then i will not fear. i will walk into his plan for our life expecting to experience the depths of his love for me.